I go to sleep with no problem, after having a full stomach of the bread from dad. It was as reassuring as a hug. My ankle feels a lot better and I am able to walk on it easily. When I get back into the tent I slowly and quietly take my place between Nick and Jace. My head hits my backpack that I am using for a pillow and immediately doze off into a hazy view of a dream.
The dream starts off in a small room. It takes a while to get my mind to believe this is a dream. Everything just seems so real. Its metal walls remind me of the room in the Justice Building that I sat in after I got reaped. Now that I think of it, I think it is the room. I am sitting on a bench, but instead of sitting alone there is someone sitting next to me. I already know who it is before looking up to him. I can tell because his hand is in mine and I remember the feel of his soft hands. I lift my head towards him to see Nick's smiling face back at me. At times like these I'm so glad Nick doesn't know how many times I have seen his flawless face in my dreams.
I don't do anything but smile back because Nick has that effect on me. We don't say anything to each other, and I am starting to wonder if this is just a dream and not a nightmare like I so often have. But then the door swings open revealing mom. She is standing with her arms crossed. I don't think I ever seen her this angry. Her eyes are darting between me and Nick.
"Hailey." She says with a harsh tone. "What are you doing?" she points towards me and Nick's hands linked together. Nick drops my hand immediately. "You need to be thinking of yourself, not Nick." I look at where Nick was, but he is no longer there, he disappeared. I look back up at mom. I am speechless I don't know what to say.
"Protect yourself. Not Nick! Do you not want to come back to District 12?" she is yelling know raising her voice so high it scares me almost.
"No…mom, of course I want to come back! I just-"
"Then why are you giving your life to a guy you hardly know!" she interjects. How does she know what I was planning on doing to save Nick? Am I that transparent with my feelings?
Mom keeps yelling and saying how disappointed she is in me. She says she could have defeated the bear by herself if she was in my place. Hearing mom say these things is like a slap in the face. One of my biggest fears is being a disappointment to my parents. But I knew inside of me mom could never be disappointed in me. This was just a dream; I had to tell myself over and over again. Why could I just wake up!
And I get my wish. I wake up hearing a familiar voice. Its sounds panicked, the voice is struggling to talk.
"Please no." the voice manages to get out. I realize the voice is Jace. My eyes shoot open right away. I quietly sit up, making no noise. I look around the tent, Jace isn't here, and Nick and Keanan are fast asleep. Panic fills my chest. What do I do? I start shaking Nick's shoulder, when I don't get a reaction I go to Keanan; I shake his shoulders but nothing. I peek out of the tent, trying to be stealthy. What I see makes my heart jump. Two careers, the one Nick knew from District 2, Andric, and the boy from District 3. Andric is holding Jace up to a tree by her neck. She is squirming around and still trying to talk.
"Please… If you…are going to kill me… do it fast. Just don't kill them…" Her voice is skipping in and out from the lack of air she has.
"Shut up." Andric says angered. "Get me my knife Breck." He shouts to the boy from District 3. The boy scrambles to Andric's backpack and is shuffling around in it. I have to protect her. How? I have no clue. I turn over and zip open my backpack and grab my knife as quickly as I can.
I hear Andric getting impatient with the boy, Breck. "Where is my knife!" he yells at him. Since there backs are turned from me I get this insane Idea to crawl out of the tent and sneak over to them. I'm hiding behind a bush with my knife raised ready to attack.
"Mellark, Stand up." Andric makes me frightened of my own last name. I listen to him because I am scared for my own life now too. "Nice try, one more move and crack." he says motioning to Jace's neck. I gasp but I listen to him not taking a step. Jace puts her frantic eyes on me shaking her head. I don't care what she wants, I won't let her die.
"Drop your knife." He spits at me, still not taking his hand off of Jace's neck. I drop my knife right away not hesitating. I can't risk him snapping her neck. My knife lies in front of me and I never felt this vulnerable before. I have no weapon, no way to protect myself. I look back at the tent, in my head I am screaming at Keanan and Nick to wake up.
"Oh… I found your knife Andric." Breck says nervously handing him the big long knife. That's when we can hear from the tent things rustling around. Keanan and Nick are up, why couldn't they be stealthier?
"Put her down." Keanan almost yells. His eyes are bulging and he looks scared. He is holding the spear that Kyler left behind. Nick is right next to him holding his knife up. He is looking at me with panic.
"Shut your mouth." Andric looks back at Keanan, Jace is freaking out. She never wanted this to happen. I heard her pleading with Andric to not kill us. And now he has a chance to do so. Jace and Keanan are making eye contact. I see tears forming in her eyes one drops from her eyes and lands on Andric's hand. I don't think he notices though.
"Put your weapons down now!" He looks at the two of them. "Or I'll snap her neck right now!" I don't doubt that he won't and I know he can because his arms show so much muscle.
Jace is practically begging Keanan with her teary eyes to stop and let her die, but he won't give up. "You're bluffing!" he yells. Andric lets out a cruel cackle. He isn't bluffing.
"Oh yeah?" With a swift move of his wrist Jace falls to the floor. I find myself shrieking at the sight of her lifeless body. A cannon firing tells me this is real. Jace is gone. Keanan's face is crushed. He runs to her body.
Andric looks proud at what he did, like he should win an award for it. Tears are coming from Keanan's face and he is shaking her shoulders. We all know she is gone, but Keanan just can't accept it. Her blond hair is going across her face blocking her opened eyes. And I feel tears starting in my own eyes.
Andric is staring at me; I can't just stand here any longer. I pick up my knife that was still lying on the floor in front of me. I look Andric in the eye to let him know he is going to get what he deserves. He looks back at me.
"What are you going to do Mellark?" I see Nick stepping closer to me from the corner of my eye. "You're nothing but a copy of your mother. Oh the famous Katniss Everdeen, you even look like her. You think because you're her daughter you get special treatment!" He looks at Nick now. "You even got your star-crossed lover right here." He laughs. "So let me ask you again, what are you going to do Hailey Mellark? You going to look in the history of your mom and pull out a trick she used? Huh? Stop trying to be your mother." He spits out at me.
I am shaking with anger. I want Andric to suffer. I want to rip him to shreds. I try to relax myself, but I just can't. The anger is spreading all over my body. When it reaches my legs I know what I want to do.
"I am not my mother!" I shriek my voice even scaring me. I clutch my knife in my hand, I feel the tug of Nicks hand on my arm but I shake it free and charge at Andric. He looks shocked like he didn't know I would do this. I jump on top of him aiming for his heart but something chucks me away and I miss, but I still get him in his stomach. I've fallen on the floor; it seems the thing that chucked me was Breck. He is coming toward me now and I am too stunned to move. I hear Andric howl from the ground across me.
Breck jumps next to me and I try to jump away from his knife he is jabbing at me. I get up a little bit but I get knocked down again when Breck's knife pierces the left side of my stomach. The last thing I see is Keanan shooting up from Jace's body with his spear and Nick racing to my side grabbing my head before it hits the floor. I slowly close my eyes. Before I go unconscious the last thing I hear is Nick yelling my name, which sounds so nice, and two cannons signaling Andric's and Brecks death.
There is no cannon for me, because I am still alive, my left side of my stomach is prickling in pain and is bleeding uncontrollably, but I am still alive.